NAIROBI – Two writers from the Business Daily took the first two positions in this year’s Citi Journalistic Excellence Awards announced last evening. George Omondi and Moses Michira were feted at the ceremony, which was held at The Fairmont, Norfolk.
The winners will attend a fully paid 10-day international seminar at the prestigious Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in New York City. David Mugwe of the Nation Media Group and James Anyanzwa (Musakhulu, congrats!) of the Standard Group took third and fourth positions.
The seminar will also be attended by the award-winners from over 20 countries, as well as academics, media experts, policymakers and government officials. Visits are scheduled to the IMF, the New York Stock Exchange, CNN Financial News, the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg Business News.
According to Citibank Chief Executive Officer Mr. Dan Connelly, “this training will play a significant role in shaping countries’ perceptions of the international business environment”. “Meeting with the eminent and thought-provoking speakers on the agenda should enhance their ability to interpret the global economy for their readers and viewers”.
The International Journalists Seminar is a special program sponsored by Citi and administered by Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism. The program, now in its 29th year, has served to improve the quality of business journalism in the developing world by exposing leading local journalists to the issues and people that drive the global economy. In 2011, 21 journalists from Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Ghana, Hong Kong, Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Nigeria, Peru, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, and Spain were chosen on a competitive basis for a 10-day seminar that includes meetings with leaders of the business community, government, media and academia.
In previous years, former NY Federal Reserve President William McDonough, former NY Fed President Timothy Geithner and Ambassador Felix Rohatyn have spoken to the group, as have Columbia professors R. Glenn Hubbard, Jagdish Bhagwati, Joseph Stiglitz and Jeffrey Sachs. A three judge panel managed to review more than 15 business feature entries for the Citi Journalistic Excellence Award. Carole Kimutai the Managing Editor of Management magazine said that she was impressed by mostly the print submissions that were largely informative and insightful.
